


House of Dogs

by Sephypsycologist



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, had to start with a healthy baseline before adding the crazy, mention of slavery in the underground, my own version of fellswap is the main timeline here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:22:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sephypsycologist/pseuds/Sephypsycologist
Summary: You work in the giftshop of a hospital, and make friends with a clumsy, friendly skeleton monster who gets a job filing records. Then everything goes sideways and now there's five more of him. What are you going to do about it?(prompt taken from an undertale prompt blog on tumblr)
Relationships: Papyrus (Fellswap gold)/Reader, Papyrus (Fellswap)/Reader, Papyrus (Swapfell)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 16
Kudos: 109





	1. Heart went Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and so did a certain machine

You were just supposed to watch for a package while your new friend was working in his basement.

He was your first monster friend, a real sweetheart named Papyrus, clumsy, goofy, sweet Papyrus. He’d shown up interviewing for an open position in the filing room of the hospital you worked in. Well, you worked in the gift shop of it, anyway. You were the florist, and he’d come in to look around after his interview saying he didn’t feel calm enough to go home yet.

Getting the job, you started seeing a lot of him, since he’d have the nice normal hours like you did instead of the psycho schedule the nurses and doctors ran on (you’d never understand that). He’d told you he was a doctor underground, once, and he was going to try and get back to medicine again now that they were free, so he thought this job would give him at least the time to get used to being in a medical environment again.

Then today, he’d texted you, on one of the days you both had off, to ask if you would watch for a package for him because he was working on a hobby project in the basement and wouldn’t be around to hear the guy knock. Sure, simple enough. You didn’t mind at all. This was the guy who’d tripped over his own feet at least three times in the six months you’d known him, you couldn’t say no to a lovable klutz like him.

But as you were sitting on his sofa, reading the latest in your favorite mystery series, you hear a huge explosion from BENEATH YOU and you run out of the door instantly. Papyrus had gone this way when he left, so you ran around the house looking for a way into the basement. Finding it, you squeal as you see the smoke, not even thinking as you fling open the door and rush down the steps as fast as possible because LIKE HELL you’re going to allow Papyrus to have DUSTED HIMSELF and not have tried to save him.

The smoke clears now that the door is open, and you see what seem to be pieces of a machine scattered around with the mechanics books and something that looks like magic theory but you never really studied that despite finding the idea interesting. No, you run to the skeleton who seems to have slid under the desk in the corner, since there are SEVERAL OF THEM and only this one is wearing the clothes Papyrus was.

“Papyrus? Hey, hey, wake up,” you can’t control your volume or tone, you’re too panicked. “Dude, please, what just happened?”

He was covered in soot, streaks of oil on the old t-shirt he was wearing that went with the many paint splotches. Finally, when you were whimpering and about to cry because he was so still, his sockets fluttered open slowly, eye lights focusing in on you from being completely hazed out, “h-hey?”

“Papyrus!” you sob, quickly bundling him up against your chest. You don’t care, he’s your FRIEND and he almost DIED right in front of you! “Oh stars, are you okay? Are you hurt? Should I call the hospital?”

“N-nah,” he hugs you after a moment, “just knocked me out, I think. Sorry to scare you.” You just nod and keep holding him tight. Good grief, you thought it was the end of the world, seeing him like that.

“Don’t you EVER do that again,” you rest your head on his shoulder, trying to keep from crying anymore. “Your brother would murder me if anything had happened the ONE TIME I come over to your house.”

“yeah…but I’m okay, I swear.” He seems so fragile, without that big jacket he always wore, just a pile of bones that could so easily vanish. Stars, you’d need therapy after this.

“Okay,” you find it hard to let him go, but you do, and he sits up, “so…so we should check on your friends, right? I didn’t realize it was a big gathering or I’d have brought snacks.”

“Friends?” he’s confused, but then he sees all the other skeletons, “holy cheese,” scrambling to his feet, he runs to the closest one, wearing a jacket a lot like his, and starts checking him over. “oh stars, oh fudge oh shoooooooot I screwed up big time.”

His refraining from swearing was helping you calm down, but you go around to check the others since he was literally a monster doctor and could handle one by himself. The one you found was smaller than Papyrus, younger….oh shit, this might be a kid. What was a kid doing down here? But no, he didn’t have stripes on his shirt, all monster children wore stripes to distinguish them from small adult monsters. He was thin, even for a skeleton, and his skull looked so delicate, not like it was fragile but like it had been carefully formed to be beautiful. He had on a big black hoodie and you saw big white letters that were…glitching out…must be some kind of monster magic in it that doesn’t like him being unconscious. He also had on long yellow sweatpants and black sneakers, yellow fingerless gloves on his hands.

The writing finally settled on ‘hurt dude’ and you call to Papyrus, “Can monsters be more hurt by moving them after an injury?”

“Yes!” he whined “Just let me see to them and you take them upstairs when I’ve cleared them. This one is good, I’ll get to that one next.”

You move over to pick this skeleton up, easily able to do so since they don’t weigh much, but you’re concerned. This one looks almost exactly like Papyrus, but with scars in different places. Instead of the scars on his cheek bone, there was one right across his nasal ridge and a crack up his right browbone. He was also slightly taller than Papyrus, making his legs drag along the ground as you carried him upward, and his bones were noticeably thicker.

The lanky bone pile was laid on the couch with a pillow behind his head. You then rushed back and Syrup smiled at you. Everyone except the one you’d checked on was sitting up and looking confused. Two more brown jackets, one with two gold fangs instead of one and lots of scars, and another that was even bigger than the one you’d just carried upstairs, bones as thick around as your fully fleshed arm. Then there was the purple one. His eye light was a dull dusty purple, his marshmallow-fluffy jacket matched, and he was wearing basketball shorts with black plastic sandals and white stocks. He was close to the door, rubbing his head and adjusting the black eye patch on his right socket, “heya, human. this guy warned us you’d be here.”

“Warned?”

“yeah,” Papyrus sighed, “these guys….” he rubs his head and looks down. “they’re uh….they’re other me’s. from different universes.”

“yep,” the purple one smirked at you, “name’s also papyrus. how’re you?”

\---

Upstairs, in the living room with the first brown coat in a chair with the other two on each arm, the younger one laid on the couch and purple guy leaning on the arm of it, you and Papyrus address these copies.

“uh,” Papyrus is nervous, and you pat his shoulder to spur him on, “heya, so…this is my timeline. And this is my friend from work, Y/N. the machine is, kinda, super busted now? So it’s gonna take some time but, I’ll uh, I’ll get y’all home as soon as possible. Still, we’re gonna need nicknames between now and then. can’t all be papyrus, ehe…”

All of them seemed to be focused on you more than Papyrus, though, and you’re pretty sure they’ve never actually seen a human before. Purple guy is clearly bored if the resting witch face is any indication, but his eye light won’t leave you for more than a glance around at the others. The three brown coats have varying reactions. Big hasn’t reacted much but he keeps flicking his eye lights over you a moment before going back to his blankness, and looks like he’s about to fall asleep, but his shoulders are tense, ready to strike. Medium, the first one you brought up, keeps smirking at you and his lights are running all over you as he licks his teeth. Gross.

Small, the one who looks most like your boy except with too many scars and two gold fangs, is just holding himself and shaking, nodding along with anything Papyrus says. He’s clearly frightened and won’t meet your eyes.

“anyway,” Papyrus rubs his skull, “I think I should take a nickname too, so nobody has to have that moment of somebody askin’ for papyrus, meaning me only, and we all turn. So….uh, call me syrup from now on.”

“Oh!” you smile at him, “Because you drink that. I still can’t believe you did that.”

“my greatest weakness,” he chuckles at you, seeming relieved by your light teasing. “but yeah. so what about you guys? got any ideas?”

Purple guy spoke up, “call me violet. I’m purple, but purple’s a stupid name, so violet.”

“Nice to meet you, Violet,” You say, and he snorts before smiling.

Licky man purrs as he talks, “you can call me mutt, darlin’, and i can’t wait to hear you say it with those pretty lips.”

You just shudder, “uh, sure. Next?”

“slim” says the big one, and you nod.

Just one more conscious skeleton to go, and he looks around, then whimpers, “people call me pup at home.”

“Pup it is, then,” you chuckle and give him a gentle smile, “You don’t have to be scared, hon. You’re on the surface, now. No more fights.”

“they’re right,” Syrup takes a deep breath to settle himself, “I know it’ll be hard to get used to, but we don’t have to fight up here. now, my brother’ll be home in a few hours but-“

“your brother lets you keep a human?” Mutt asked, seeming surprised, “lucky. I don’t get pets. Then again,” he winked at you, “I kind of am one, for the right person.”

Your brain supplies the comeback you’re too polite to say as you cringe, ‘you’re a dog alright’.

Syrup steps in front of you, “okay, so you guys can stay with me till we find a place for you or…or something, at least for today. I work tomorrow, so I can’t stay with you, but since…you’re all me anyway…”

“actually,” Violet is taking out a lavender-colored stick and starts smoking it, “you’re an offshoot of my timeline, so’s this kid here,” he gestures to the still out skeleton, who now has a bandage around his left arm and head, “and these three are offshoots from the same splinter as you. I was tracking timelines with my machine, but hadn’t got anything else working when I got here.”

You watched him smoking, then realized you didn’t mind the scent. It was a calming lavender, and it reminded you more of the sweetness of pipe smoke instead of cigarettes. Huh.

“uh…well, either way, yeah, sans will be here after work.” Syrup blushed and looked down. Only you heard him mumble, “wow I can’t even say I’m the original here. just…just the one who lives here.”

You put your arm over his shoulder and clear your throat to distract him, “Okay, so who here’s hungry? I’ll buy us all a pizza if you want.”

“Pizza?” Violet instantly changed his expression, like you’d told him it was Gyftmas, “oh, human, you do know how to brighten a man’s day. no preferences, but dang, yes, pizza.”

Slim blinked slowly, then shrugged, but didn’t otherwise respond, instead pulling a bottle of hot sauce out of nowhere and taking a long drink out of it.

Pup smiled, “i-I’ve never had it, but I know of it. sounds good.” The slight washed out orange of his blush made you happy.

Mutt got up, stretching, “only snacc I see is you, human, but I guess I could eat something. Sure.” You were dialing already, ignoring him purposefully.

You’d leave his doubles to Syrup for now, concentrating on your order instead.

\--

You were going to get enough pizza to feed them if everybody only had two slices…at first. Then you realized that was stupid, these were male monsters and they were SYRUP more importantly, and you’d seen him inhale six plates of pancakes in one sitting.

Not that he’d been very well afterward, but he’d made it through to lunchtime on his own and you’d bought him some antacids from your shop. Surprisingly helped, and thus you also learned about monsters’ issues with processing human food without some magic added. You always reminded him now, and you’d saved him more than once.

So, you bought a pizza for each of them, with a medium one (that you’d share with Sans) and cheese bread for yourself. Your money, YOU get to choose the sides! This is your party, the Papyrus party with all the Papyrus…es. Papyri? You like that better.

So, the pizza you get for Slim is called Spice Lovers, and its all kinds of pepper and spicy sausage. Since he drinks hot sauce, he must love spicey food, so there ya go. The rest of the pizzas are pretty much one topping per and you guess they can mix and match what ones they like since some of them hadn’t ever had pizza before.

Pup seemed to slowly gravitate toward you and Syrup as you waited for the food to be delivered, while the two of you were answering questions about the surface.

“so did we go to war with the humans when we got up here?” Violet asked, and Syrup shook his head.

“no, we uh, chara, our ambassador, lil’ human kid, managed to convince the queen to back down. it was tense, yeah, but turns out there’s this whole human custom about protecting refugees. Even something called therapy, it’s amazing. You talk to a human about your life and they help you figure out how ta get your stuff together. Actually told me what was up with me. called depression, and now that I can manage it, I’m actually going back to being in medicine. Getting some money to go get certified by humans to practice up here but yeah.” Syrup smiled very brightly and looked at you, “an’ a lot of humans are actually pretty cool. Even sans likes this one, for instance.”

You snort, “I’ve met the man once and he basically told me I was on probation since you liked hanging out with me. I apparently have to win his approval AND Chara’s before I can relax.”

“he…he actually talked to you?” Pup seemed surprised. “that’s….you must be really special. Most people who try to talk to me….end up dead.”

You and Syrup freeze, and you begin to wonder where all those scars came from on Pup’s face.

“heh, my bro won’t stop talking.” Mutt rolls his eye lights, “always bragging about himself to anyone who’s around. and he wonders why I try to run off…or did,” he hooks his thumb through the thick leather collar around his neck with huge golden spikes.

Syrup frowns, “you actually got an obedience collar? Dude, those are for slaves…”

You shudder, knowing slavery of weaker monsters was common in Syrup’s underground. Thinking of your boy as a slave, the spikes on the collar also on the INSIDE edge to channel damaging magic into his body easier, made you sick.

“eh? oh yeah. slave to m’lord, of course. Captain of the guard had to have a reliable back up, I wasn’t acting right so…” he shrugs, and Pup moves his sweater neck, revealing the same kind of collar.

“m-me too…”

You actually dash to the bathroom. They were SLAVES, to their own BROTHER, and were acting like it was NORMAL. It was just too much for you to deal with on top of their sudden appearance and the fear of losing your friend you’d already been through today.

Syrup’s voice came lilting through as you sobbed and tried not to vomit. Stars, how sick were these other universes? You knew Sans was a tough cookie, but to think he’d ever be capable of….of THIS kind of depravity was beyond you. At least Syrup was handling things alright, you think.

Finally, you came out of the bathroom when there was a knock on the door. You got the money and payed the poor human who had to look in on your house full of skeletons. “Okay, boys, food. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

Slim got up and actually followed closely behind you. He sat down and watched as you spread the pizzas out on the counter, then set his in front of him, “Since you drank hot sauce, I got you a spicy one. Hope you enjoy it.”

The act actually got his mouth to tilt up into a little smirk, but he just nodded, starting to eat.

You see Syrup look you over worriedly, then melt when you hand him the Canadian bacon pie you got specifically for him. “you’re so dang nice…why do you hang out with me?”

“Because you need nice,” you sigh, and Pup comes up behind him, frowning and seeming concerned.

“s-sorry we shocked you. it’s nice to know humans don’t…don’t do the whole collar thing,” he fiddled with his fingers a bit and looked at the pizza, “this…this is pizza? It smells so good. wh-which one is mine?”

You take a deep breath and say gently, “Since you and some of the rest didn’t seem to have a preference or hadn’t had it before, I got several flavors so you can try them and see which one you like.”

Syrup sat down near Slim and perked up a lot. Neither Slim nor Violet had a collar at all, so you were relieved there. Syrup had one when he first came up, but it was a protection collar, a simple red leather one with a tag attached with his brother’s name on it. Sans had him wear it to keep him safe from others, since anyone who messed with him also messed with Sans. He’d stopped wearing it a few months into working, and you felt it was because he was gaining confidence in himself.

“Don’t forget to put some of that blue shaker on your food, guys,” Syrup says as he sits down, “this is human stuff, our bodies don’t process it really well so we need that magic supplement we keep in there.” He uses it on his own pizza just to demonstrate, and happily digs in.

The others follow suit, and Violet samples one of everything while groaning softly, “I fuckin’ love the surface.”

“don’t cuss,” Slim growls, and Violet (as well as everybody else) flinch a little.

“o-okay, big guy, I’ll…I’ll keep it family friendly,” the chastised skele scoots even farther from him before he continues eating…and gets his hand slapped when he tries to steal a piece of Slim’s pizza.

You eat your basic cheese pizza and your cheese bread as you just watch them. Pup looks like he’s in heaven, just absorbed with the food and looking between you and Syrup with nervous gratitude. Violet is at least not getting in trouble anymore for the moment, and Slim seems ok with just eating his pizza rather messily.

Keeping your back to the cabinet seemed to be irritating Mutt, who was in the corner, staring at you and pouting. Heh. No butt touching for you, perv. He had to actually eat, and pizza wasn’t exactly able to be twisted into an inuendo.

You’d finished what you could stomach, since you’d been so nauseous earlier, and headed toward the living room again when you heard the whimper and rushed.

Syrup appeared next to you as you saw that the little guy on the sofa had woken up and looked shocked as he saw you and Syrup. Shakily, he used his unbandaged arm to pull out a notepad and quickly write, showing the result to you both as the others came in to his continued distress, “where’s my brother?!”

His shirt read, “Scared Dude” and you knelt down to be less threatening, knowing that you, as a human, were a scary factor.

Syrup walked over and squatted in front of the couch and said gently, “Your brother is back at your home. I’m syrup, by nickname, since every skeleton here right now is also named papyrus. including you, I guess?”

Nodding, even as he starts rattling, more words are written and shown, “yeah. why is a human here? where is here?”

“you’re on the surface right now,” Syrup answered, hand glowing green, “I’m a healer by profession, and I work at a hospital up here. that human is my coworker and friend. They were here when my machine accidentally pulled you into my timeline.”

You’re sitting on the floor now, against the wall so you’re as far away as you can be in order to keep the poor guy’s anxiety down, but you smile, “do you want to choose a nickname for yourself? It’s what we’re doing to keep from getting confused.”

Text on his shirt changing to ‘sad boy’, he scribbled a while and showed a doodle of a crying skull and a sentence, “Coffee. Is there any sans here?”

“yeah, coffee,” Syrup had waved his healing-magic covered hand over him and stared a while, “my brother is going to be home very soon. he raised me, encouraged me to be a healer, and took really good care of me until I was old enough to do that myself. did you ever see a healer back home?”

Coffee shook his head and little golden tears began leaking out his blank sockets. He had tiny golden brackets on his teeth, braces. Huh.

“just a dentist then?” syrup got a nod, “okay. Coffee, I’m going to go get you something that helps keep me calm when I get anxious. Y/N, my human friend, is going to make sure you’re safe until I get back. They’re the nicest person I’ve ever met, so they’ll be good to you.” Standing, Syrup teleported upstairs and you heard him digging in his room.

Pup sat down next to you and smiled a little at Coffee, “they bought us food and made sure we didn’t get sick. Whatever stories you heard about humans at home, little friend, this one isn’t like that.” He blushed and looked at you nervously, “a-at least I think so. You can call me pup, coffee.”

Coffee nodded and sniffled, rubbing his sockets before pointing at Slim. The big skeleton blinked a moment, then stated his name, actually giving a small smile.

Violet finally came in and took the armchair, “heard what was going on. I’m violet, and that last guy is mutt.” Mutt looked put out that he didn’t get to introduce himself.

Syrup returned with a weighted blanket, “this blanket is kind of heavy, but it helps keep me calm when I have a panic attack. I don’t have to use it a lot anymore, so you can use it while you’re here, if you want, coffee.”

Coffee made grabby hands for it and draped it around himself with a relieved sigh. He then got his notebook again and wrote out, “thank you, syrup, and everyone. Could I maybe have some food? Or whipped cream?” he also had drawn a little can of cream next to his ask.

You went and prepared him some slices of the more tame pizza from your buffet, bringing them back with a glass of water and the requested can of cream, “here, coffee. I already put the magic supplement on there for you, so you’ll be okay eating it. welcome to the surface.”

He blinked at you, then started eating, humming happily at the taste. Syrup chuckled, “I’m glad you’re doing better. your arm and head might be a little sore to touch or put pressure on for the next day or so, but you’ll be fine.”

Coffee nodded and kept eating, being quite neat about his bites and very careful not to make a mess. Unlike Slim.

“Syrup, I don’t know if I should go before Sans gets back. It feels wrong to let you deal with all this alone,” you rubbed your eyes, feeling suddenly tired.

Pup got up fast, “you’re leaving? But I thought you lived here?”

“No,” you shook your head, “I don’t live here, but I’m not leaving until after Syrup’s brother gets home. I want to be sure he takes this okay.”

Pup flinched and looked down, “b-but it’s dangerous outside…isn’t it?”

Syrup looked at the clock, “Not right now, sun’s still out. Sans’ll be home any second.”

“SANS IS HOME RIGHT NOW AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”


	2. Clinging vines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans is home now and things have to be sorted out for the moment

Pup squeaked and hid behind you as soon as Sans had yelled, and Syrup looked relieved, “hey, sans, so I messed up pretty bad.”

“IS IT YOUR FAULT I’M LOOKING AT FIVE SKELETONS I DON’T KNOW?” Sans asked him, slowly closing the door and locking it.

“yeah,” Syrup nodded, rubbing his head, “that machine I tinkered with blew up and it ended up pulling these guys into our timeline. They’re….uh, they’re me, basically.”

That made Sans stop where he was trying to take off his boots and look around at each of the other boys, sweeping from right to left. Mostly he looked suspicious and calculating, but on seeing Coffee at the end, who smiled a bit and waved, his expression softened.

You feel nervous, but you have to speak up, “Sans, some of these guys came from…really bad places. I got pizza for them, left some of the plain kind for you, and we’re using nicknames to differentiate since they’re all Papyrus.”

All eyes turned on you, and Sans seemed to realize your presence for the first time. “HAVE YOU BEEN HERE FOR THIS WHOLE FIASCO?”

“they were waiting for a package I ordered while I was machine-ing,” Syrup admitted. “package never came, but they ran down when they heard the explosion.”

“EXPLOSION?!” Sans seemed worried, hand flying to his chest, “GOOD STARS, PAPYRUS!”

“I’m okay!” he quickly waved his hands, “most of us were, it was only coffee here that bumped his head on some of the furniture and landed bad on his arm. He’ll be fine in two days, less if he’s okay with me healing him more. I could only do so much while he was unconscious.”

Sans nodded, his bones paleing to a gray color, “AND YOU CAME AS SOON AS YOU HEARD THIS?”

“Of course,” you felt the panic ping in your heart remembering that sound, “Syrup was in trouble, I had to go.”

Sans was noticeably perplexed, "WHO IS SYRUP?" but when his brother raised his hand, he sighed, and seemed to deflate a bit, “THEN I SUPPOSE YOU’VE EARNED A MODICUM MORE RESPECT FROM ME THAN TO CALL YOU HUMAN. THANK YOU, Y/N, FOR TRYING TO HELP MY BROTHER AND…MY OTHER BROTHERS, I SUPPOSE.”

Slim walks over and squats in front of Sans, smirking, “y’re strong. ‘m slim. At’cher service.”

“UH,” Sans looked him over and nodded, “NOTED. HELLO, SLIM. AND HELLO TO YOU, TOO, COFFEE.” He swiftly walks to the sofa and actually smiles. “I’M SANS, BUT YOU CAN CALL ME WHATEVER YOU LIKE IF YOU’D RATHER RESERVE THAT NAME FOR YOUR OWN BROTHER.”

He nods and then is scribbling for a few seconds, showing his pad with a drawing of a berry of some sort, “I’ll call you raspberry. That’s the color on your scarf. Razzy for nicknames.”

Sans chuckled softly and nodded, “THAT IS FINE BY ME. MY BROTHER WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU WHILE YOU’RE HURT, AND I WILL DO SO UNTIL YOU NO LONGER NEED ME.” As soon as he turned to the others, his face hardened, “BUT YOU FOUR. I DON’T KNOW WHAT KIND OF PLACE YOU CAME FROM, OR HOW YOU WERE TAUGHT. I HAVE BEEN THROUGH MUCH BUT I EXPECT YOU WILL TEST ME IN NEW WAYS. LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR.”

He stalked over to Mutt and Violet, eye lights bright, “THIS IS MY HOME. THIS WAS A SAFE PLACE FROM OUTSIDERS LIKE YOU FOR MY FAMILY. I TRUST THE HUMAN ENOUGH THEY MAY VISIT, BUT YOU ARE UNKNOWN INTERLOPERS. I WILL WATCH YOU LIKE A HAWK AND THE MOMENT YOU STEP A TOE OUT OF LINE, I WILL SHOVE IT BACK OVER WITH EXCESSIVE FORCE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”

Pup burst into tears and clung to you, “please don’t go, please. Please don’t leave me,” he whimpered.

“Oh Pup, no, it’s okay,” you hug him tight and feel how much he’s shaking, looking up to see Sans balk and then look away, ashamed.

“OH. OH MY,” he sighed and rubs his sockets, “I’M SORRY FOR FRIGHTENING HIM. I JUST…THERE’S NO EXCUSE. I’LL HAVE TO WORK HARDER ON BEING MORE AWARE OF OTHERS.” Sans seemed to be getting a headache, if his constant forehead rubbing meant anything. “Y/N, I THINK YOU’VE PROVEN YOURSELF QUITE HANDY WITH AH, THIS SORT OF THING, SO I’M GOING TO BE RELYING ON YOU A BIT IF YOU DON’T MIND. WE’LL NEED HELP, ESPECIALLY WITH HOUSING. COULD YOU PERHAPS TAKE THAT ONE WITH YOU HOME?”

You look down at Pup, who nods, clinging to you. “Alright. I think…I think that will be fine. He’ll be alone till I get home from shift, but…yeah.” Petting Pup’s skull just happened, but you heard him start to purr between terrified whines. “Me and Pup will be fine.”

“you sure?” Syrup asked but his brother snorted.

“BROTHER, YOU ALREADY ARE GOING TO END UP HAVING TO SHARE YOUR ROOM WITH AT LEAST ONE PERSON HERE, IF NOT TWO. IS THERE REALLY ANY OTHER OPTION?”

“oh…yeah, I didn’t think about that.” Syrup looked at you as his skull turned maple-orange, “sorry for getting you into this, but thanks. I’ll see you at work.”

“You’ll see me tomorrow either way. I’m not leaving you guys dealing with this alone,” You are now shepherding Pup toward the door, “Pup and I will be by after my shift so he can keep up to date on what the situation is.”

“thank you,” Pup murmured and waved as you two left.

“Bye guys!” you called back as you shut the door.

\--

Pup doesn’t really pay attention to you as you drive, too busy gasping and cooing about all the things he sees out the window. “the sky? It’s so blue! And the clouds are even fluffier looking than the storybooks said. And grass! That’s grass, it’s all green and on the ground. Puppies! Aww, real dogs are a lot cuter than dog monsters; those guys were all so scary. Oh stars, look, there are so many different humans! is that a movie theater? We only had one screen in the capitol! That has six?!”

He’s so excited, and you just smile as you drive. He’s a cutie, really, even with all those rough grey scars all over. You just hope he doesn’t mind your house.

As you pull into the parking lot of your apartment, Pup seems to realize what he’s been doing and gasp, instantly sitting up straight in his seat, rigidly. You park, and he whispers, “sorry.”

“No, you’re okay, Pup, honest.” You unclip your belt, prompting him to do the same, and open the door, “I’m so glad to be witness to your first view of the surface. I love it when people are happy.”

He blushes a little but follows you silently around the back of the building and up the stairs to your little piece of paradise. Well, it was close to work and had felt instantly like home even before you paid your first rent, so that’s pretty great, anyway.

Pup looks around and seems really happy, “your home is very nice. i…I don’t think I’ve ever seen a home decorated so nice. Decorations are just another expense for us, and they’re breakable. Not a good combination,” he sighs.

“Well, there’s not going to be any fighting, so no need to worry about that.” You go to your couch (really just a love seat from the 70’s) and opened it up into a bed, “and you can sleep here! We’ll fold it back up in the morning so we can use it like a couch, but it can come back out anytime you need a nap.”

“y-your couch transforms!” Pup is in awe, especially when you add your spare pillows and blankets to the bed. “and I really sleep by myself? I don’t have to lay in the floor of your room?”

“No!” you laugh a bit, but then feel bad for doing it, “No, Pup. You deserve privacy when you’re asleep, just like I do. That’s our only rule here, okay? don’t go in my bathroom or bedroom without getting the okay from me, first. You can use the one down the study hall instead. That last door at the end.” This was a two bedroom apartment, but the second bedroom was where you studied and worked when you were at home. You were taking online classes to try and get your certification as a librarian, and you were almost done. Then you could stop doing retail and start working with books instead. You’d miss working alongside Syrup, though.

Helping Pup get comfy and used to his bed, you turned the TV on and just had it play on the local PBS station. Kids cartoons, at this hour, and then the nature documentary series usually. He quickly wrapped himself up in the blanket, leaning against the pillows and the back cushions, looking at the TV in fascination.

You join him, leaning against the couch arm and sighing softly. This was going to be such a big thing to hash out in your mind tonight. All these skeletons and the information you’d learned and the fact one of them was in your house….

“uh….human?” Pup seemed sad as he was talking, tone lower and less energetic, “c-can I at least know what you’re going to have me do? it’s…very kind of you, to give me a bed and a ride and everything but…the anticipation is killing me.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” now you’re confused, and you look up at him. Oh, his eye lights are back to being hazy and small. Oh no, he’s scared again. They’d been so big and bright when you first got here.

“w-well, sans gave me to you for the night,” he says like that explains everything. “have…you never been gifted a servant before?”

“No, and I haven’t been now,” you get on your knees to be more on his level, “Pup, Sans sent you with me so he could deal with everyone else without scaring you again. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, with me or when we go back.”

“c-come on, don’t tease me,” he blushed and curled up more. “there’s….there’s no way it’s really this good here. i-I saw the badge and stuff on this sans’ uniform, he’s still in some kind of guard. You’re a healer, too, you have to…have to require a lot of payment. I get if you want me to be relaxed, but I can..i can take a lot. Just tell me what you want.”

You blink, then start to speak slowly. He’s clearly in disbelief at the moment, “Firstly, you need to know that, while I work at a hospital, I am not a doctor or healer of any kind. I run the gift shop, so I’m essentially just a shopkeeper.” That seemed to surprise him, but you continue, “Secondly, it’s like Syrup probably told you after I left for the bathroom. Humans in this country cannot legally have a slave, so anybody who is a ‘servant’ has to be paid money to do any kind of work. Does that make sense?”

Pup’s eye lights were coming back into focus as he nodded, but he was still frowning, “so you…you really don’t want me to clean or fight someone for you? you’re okay if I don’t do anything for you?”

“Yeah, man,” you smile at him, “seriously, you’re not in your world anymore. You’re free to do whatever you want to or not do what you don’t want to.”

He kept searching your face until tears began to drip out of his sockets and he launched himself over to hug you tight, just sobbing and holding on like you’d vanish in seconds. Awkwardly, you moved onto the bed with him and just let him get it out, arm around his back and rubbing his shoulder gently. This poor fellow was so used to being mistreated that he couldn’t believe he was out of it, even after you and Syrup had both told him so. He literally cried himself to sleep against you, and you couldn’t bring yourself to leave him for more than a trip to the bathroom.

If you ever saw his brother, you were going to dust the bastard.

\---

Pup didn’t understand.

He woke up in the middle of the night, only to find you snoozing at the foot of his bed, just leaning against it despite how uncomfortable that had to be. And you had work in the morning, you’d said so at the house.

Were you worried about him? He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he did remember you being confusingly insistent he could do what he wanted to. So…so he could do this, right?

Very carefully Pup used his magic to lift you into his arms softly before carrying you to your bed and tucking you in. He just couldn’t understand you, really, or anything about this strange world that didn’t put him in instant servitude.

But you deserved a better sleep than leaning against the bed, and he could always go back to sleep later.

Maybe, if he was good, he’d get to stay with you until Syrup fixed his machine. He’d really like to stay in this kind dream world for as long as he could.

\--

You woke up to a wonderful smell and your alarm beeping. Slowly, you stretched and got up, looking into the living room and kitchen to find Pup awake and making bacon and eggs. He smiled at you, “hi. Um…I wanted to thank you more for taking me in so…breakfast. Did you sleep better after I got you off the floor?”

That’s how you got in bed, you realize, touched as you follow his instruction to sit while he gave you a plate of food, “Yeah, I expected to have neck or back cramps, but you saved me from them. Thank you so much, Pup. That and this….you’re too sweet.”

He blushed, but he seemed happy as he bounced around and cleaned up after his effort. Then you noticed he wasn’t eating himself. “Pup, don’t you want food?”

Freezing, he gave a nervous smile, “uh, nah, I’m good. haven’t earned it yet today. I still have to do a lot more before that.”

When you got up, he flinched, but seemed confused as you went to your pantry and got out two slices from your loaf of monster bread. You kept it around in case you had a monster guest or needed to close a small wound (accidentally cut your finger or something). Putting them in the toaster, you waited for them to pop up and Pup seemed confused again. Sighing, you answer his unasked question, “Food is something everyone needs. I personally consider it a right that everyone has food. So you don’t have to earn it; you deserve to eat just because you’re alive.”

Still, the toast popping out made both of you jump, and you laughed a bit before putting some butter on it and setting it in front of him, “I don’t have any magic supplement, so that’s all I can really offer right now, but I’m going to drop you off at Syrup’s place before I go to work so you can have adequate food until I get back. It didn’t even hit me you’d need something till just now, so I feel kind of dumb.”

“n-no, don’t feel bad,” Pup munched on his buttered toast happily, “this is….is way more than I’m used to. Normally don’t earn my food till dinner if at all. you’re…you’re really doing a lot for me.”

Your thoughts simply went back to him needing food and you needing to work, so you still dropped him off at Syrup’s on the way. Slim came out to greet you, waving as he welcomed Pup in before you drove off.

\--

Syrup drooped as you saw him at lunch.

“Not sleeping well?” you asked.

“Mutt kept me up,” he whined, “you don’t wanna know how. Slim finally threatened him enough to get him to sleep.”

“Oh geeze,” you frown, patting his shoulder, “sorry about that. Pup was really quiet, didn’t bother me at all. He’s really having a hard time realizing he doesn’t have to be a slave anymore.”

“that’ll be hard for him to get over,” Syrup ate his sandwich and blinked very slowly, trying not to pass out, “there’s several monsters out there in the community that still can’t understand they’re not obligated to serve anymore. it’s sad and I dunno what we can do for him.”

You sigh and nod, “Yeah, same. But, y’know, I think he was happy, kind of. Seemed really chipper this morning.”

“at least someone is,” he chuckled, “slim killed my alarm clock quite handily when it went off and mutt just growled at it. I’ll have to get a new one.”

The two of you chatted quietly for the rest of the hour, and it was with great reluctance that Syrup rose and trudged back to the filing room.

\---

Car parked and locked, you head toward the house and hear some kind of disturbance, something being knocked over and someone calling out to someone else.  
Steeling your nerves, you reach for the knob only to have the door open inward and be yanked inside.

“oh, the hot tottie returns~” coos Mutt as he dips you and closes the door. “miss me that much?”

“You wish, bonehead,” you huff and turn your body, escaping him and scrambling to your feet, instantly being enveloped in a hug from Pup.

“you came back for me! thank you thank you thank you!” he whimpered and shook. Slim was watching now that he’d emerged from the kitchen, and he just blinked as you tried to comfort Pup while moving to the sofa (the part that wasn’t covered in some kind of debris).

“I said I would, Pup, it’s okay. What happened here?”

Slim smirked and sat in the armchair, pointing upward at the second floor.

Sans could be heard yelling now, “YOU THINK YOU CAN HIDE FROM ME? NO! YOU DO NOT STEAL FROM MY HOME AND ACT LIKE YOU DID NOTHING! YOU’RE LUCKY I EVEN ALLOW YOU TO LIVE, YOU UNGRATEFUL MISCREANT!”

Violet suddenly vaulted the banister and landed, giving you a brief wave before dashing out the door. Sans was dashing down the stairs in mere seconds, “NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, I MUST CATCH HIM!”

Wearily, Syrup makes his way down the stairs and whines, “hey. glad you took the time to go home and change?”

“Yes.” You gave Pup more pats as he calmed, noticing and glaring at Mutt as he looked jealously. “Where’s Coffee?”

The younger skeleton popped his head over the railing and waved at you before joining you on the couch after brushing it off with his hands. He sat and showed you his notebook, a big sketch of Sans on the back of the previous page and words, “He caught Violet stealing things from his room. Hi again.”

“Hey, Coffee.” You smile at him and he turns to a new page, starting to sketch. Turning to Syrup, you ask, “Stealing? What was he stealing?”

“mostly crystals from waterfall. Those used to sell well in districts outside of it, since it was like having a star in your home during lockdowns, but there’s no market for them anymore. and stealing anything from my brother is a bad idea,” Syrup flopped down on the floor and groaned.

Mutt literally got on his hands and knees and crawled over, “c’mon, human, why does pup get to hug you and sit in your lap and I don’t?”

“Because Pup is scared and treats me with respect, unlike you,” you reply flatly, and Pup sighs softly. He seems to have calmed down now that he knows you aren’t leaving. 

“Speaking of, Pup, hon, what got you so worked up?”

“S-sans was so upset…” he shivered a bit and gripped your shirt a little tighter, “he was yelling a lot and…I just don’t, um, c-can’t deal with him like that.”

Syrup blinked up at you both from the floor, “pup, my bro may be loud, but he’s mostly bluster. He’s the most restrained monster I know when it comes to actually using his power on anybody. Sans was a captain in the guard, he’s an expert at not using force unless necessary.”

“I…” Pup swallowed thickly and moved to be sitting behind you instead, burying his head against your back, “I’m not sure I can believe that yet. s-sorry, syrup, I just…I’ve got a lot that says otherwise on my end.”

Poor Pup, you just hope he can relax at some point.

Still, you have to be on alert as Mutt tries to sit on you and you have to curl into a ball to block him. Slim chuckles from the doorway, then walks back into the kitchen.

\--

Coffee shows you the picture he was sketching once he finishes. It’s a picture of you pushing Mutt away with one foot as if you were a superhero in a fight, and you giggle, “That’s amazing, Coffee, good job.”

He smiles, and you all jump when Sans comes back, Violet in cuffs that glow with the magenta magic Sans uses regularly, “YOU ARE GOING TO SLEEP IN THE LIVING ROOM FROM NOW ON. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED UPSTAIRS. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED OUT OF THE HOUSE, AND YOU ARE MOST DEFINITELY ON PROBATION UNTIL YOU LEARN TO CONTROL YOUR KLEPTOMANIA!”

“not diagnosed with that. just tryin’ to make some g. lighten up,” Violet seemed put out, grimacing a bit as he was sat on the floor in the corner between the stairs and the TV.

“I WILL NOT LIGHTEN UP.” Sans growled at him, “YOU ARE OUT OF LINE, AND SO HELP ME, I AM STILL A FORCE FOR ORDER HERE. CRIME DOES NOT PAY IN MY HOME, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS IN YOURS. YOU WILL SHUT UP, SHAPE UP, AND NOT CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR MY FAMILY WHILE YOU ARE HERE. DO YOU UNDERSTAND, CRIMINAL?”  
Pup had you in a vice grip, rattling like a maraca, but you murmured, “Violet’s the one in trouble, not you. You’re okay, Pup.”

Violet just glared at Sans for a moment, then nodded and looked away, curling in on himself. Sans stood and shook himself a moment, then sighed, “ALRIGHT. NOW, WE CAN ALL ACT LIKE CIVIL INDIVIDUALS.” He turned and came over, lowering his voice, “Pup, I’m sorry I’ve scared you again. I understand now why this isn’t a good environment for you, and if y/n is okay with it, I will be more than happy for you to continue staying with them so long as they allow. I’m also sorry to you,” Sans turns and seems very tired, “for having to keep asking you to care for Pup since I can’t control my volume or when one of these other brothers of mine will do something dangerous or immoral.”

Yeah, he’d just volunteered you to have Pup sleep on your couch for the foreseeable future, but that wasn’t something you actually minded as much as you probably should. Mutt or Slim or Violet, yeah, you’d complain, but your one night of having Pup was actually okay so you didn’t have any reservations of it continuing, at least until Sans could figure out a way to keep the less savory members of his family in line. “No, I get it, Sans. I’d let Syrup stay, too, if this wasn’t his house.”

“I’d actually send Coffee with you to get him out of this toxicity, but he’s more comfortable with me,” Sans admitted and Coffee nodded beside you before gently grabbing the hem of Razzy’s shirt with a smile.

You definitely were glad Coffee had Sans close since he’d been so upset without his own brother. Well, it seemed you’d be making Pup a permanent part of your life (for the time being) and you just hoped Sans would learn to cope with all these others.


End file.
